This story centers on Rowan, the very popular soccer player
with a bit of a reputation, and Dee, a professional soccer player who plays for
the women’s team of the same club. When the book begins, Rowan’s personal life
has just been splashed across the papers in a rather unflattering way. Because
of that, the team wants him to do a little character rehab, and it starts with helping
with a children’s soccer camp that the organization puts on. Also helping with the
soccer camp is Dee, who at least at the start of the story feels less than pleased
that Rowan is being added to the camp’s coaching roster. She has some preconceived
notions about Rowan, but Rowan has his own about her as well. Eventually, after
plenty of rather entertaining interactions with one another, their relationship
begins to change, and we get to see the progression from enemies to lovers.
Dyer has written two incredibly phenomenal and multidimensional
characters with Rowan and Dee. Neither of them is what they seem at the start
to one another, and the way she shows how they change in their views of each
other is interesting. I literally could not get enough of these two. Rowan is
grossly misunderstood not just by Dee but by the public at large it seems, and
instead he’s a complex man, albeit a tad cheeky, that’s essentially just
getting a bad rap because of his profession and the people he’s unfortunately surrounded
himself with before the book begins. He has his own private life that we get
glimpses into, and it serves to deepen him as a character. And Dee? She’s funny
and kind and above all else good to her core. I absolutely loved her
personality and backstory, including what she’s dealing with family wise as she
and Rowan get to know each other and then later when they’re more than just
players for the same club. The way their characters come together is just an
explosion of chemistry, and there is so much palpable heat between them. Their
romance is crazy good, and I didn’t want their story to end.
Also, the story telling is nothing less than skilled, and
the pacing felt just right. It’s a bit of a slow burn, but what Dyer’s done is
create characters that make you invested in them and their personal stories
from the start. She’s built a world in which as the reader you care. There’s a deepness
to her writing that I definitely loved. Plus, she’s rather intelligently sprinkled
bits of the next book’s main character throughout Penalty Kiss, which has left
me desperate for the next one in the series. Not only does that set up for the
next book, but it also lends a touch of mystery that’s secondary to Rowan and Dee’s
story. The way the reader is left wondering adds just the right amount of
intrigue. In the end, it lends a multilayered quality to the story, and I enjoyed
it immensely.
Penalty Kiss is a genuinely noteworthy romance with wonderful
characters. It’s so well done and will leave you desperate for the next book in
the series.
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